Fond Memories
by Docta.J
Summary: The war is over, Voldemort is dead. Harry's getting somewhat bored when a mysterious package is delivered to him. He's given a pensieve, and with it follows Lily and James through their 7th year.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **No, I don't own Harry Potter or anything else in this chapter.

Hello, this happens to be my first FanFic. Even so, feel free to be harsh if you choose review. I realize usually people ask reviewers to be gentle because they're just beginning, but I want your honest opinions.

Also, I don't plan to be one of those authors who apologies for not updating at the start of this chapter, because I know I'll update almost if not more infrequently as them. If you do decide you like this story and plan to stick with it, don't expect regular updates, instead I'll let you be pleasantly surprised when they do come.

This will have a plot of Lily/James and how they got together, but it probably won't be the only focus.

Anyway, I suppose I should get writing. I honestly have no idea what direction I'm taking this, I have a beginning and end in mind, but how to bridge them will be a challenge.

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**Prologue:**

Harry gazed up towards the ceiling, tracing the outlines of the patterns in the near complete darkness. Across the room, he could hear Ron's loud snoring. It had been nearly a month since Voldemort's defeat, and though everyone around him had been overjoyed for that entire span of time (except during of course Fred's funeral), Harry couldn't help but feel, well, bored. It was insensitive he supposed, but now that the war was over and this burden of being 'The Boy Who Lived' or 'The Chosen One' had been lifted, he couldn't help but feel like he had served his cause, like there nothing left in the world for him. And so Harry fell into a rut, the most exciting part of his days being when Mrs. Weasley occasionally broke down into tears after looking at Fred's name on her magical clock, stuck pointing at 'Resting'.

The only upside to Harry's dull life was that he was, without fail, able to fall asleep without thoughts clouding his mind. There was no exception to this rule tonight, and Harry soon found himself dozing off.

The next morning Harry was rudely awoken by a loud screeching. He quickly shot up into a sitting position. Ron was stirring in his bed, clearly awake but not happy about it. The screech was didn't sound human, which prompted Harry to look out the window, expecting a rather large owl to make such a noise. What he saw however, was not a owl. Instead a great eagle soared back and forth a few feet from the window. In awe by the bird's magnificent soaring and turning with such grace that it could make Viktor Krum look like Hermione on a broomstick.

"Well, open up the window before it yells again," Ron said, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled out of bed. "We don't want it waking up Hermione, she's not much of a morning pers-"

"I'm already up," came Hermione's unmistakable voice as she walked through to room to the window to see what Harry was staring out.

"Oi!" Ron yelped, Hermione turned her head slowly to meet his gaze. The look on her face told Harry that she, like him, didn't know what Ron was suddenly upset about. "I could've been naked, mind knocking first?"

"Well Ron," Hermione's voice calm and fluid, "I could hear you were out of bed and talking to Harry, so I safely assumed you weren't naked. Besides, if you were naked and talking to Harry..." she drifted off with an amused look on her face. Ron's face on the other hand had turned a shade of deep red.

"Well, just... knock in the future please." Ron said, trying to stop his cheeks from becoming any redder. As he closed his mouth another screech came. "Will you please open the window!?"

"Sorry," Harry said, as he unhinged the window, his eyes never leaving the majestic creature. It soared gracefully inside, carrying with it a medium sized package with a letter on top of it. The eagle let it's talons go from the box atop a desk and stepped aside.

Ron spoke up. "Says it's to you Harry. I reckon it's from Hagrid, only he'd send something like this to deliver a package."

"I don't think so..." Hermione said slowly, taking the letter off the top of the box, "this hand writing is much too neat to belong to Hagrid. I wonder who it could be from."

"How about I open it and we find out," said Harry, trying to keep any agitation from his tone.

"Of course, sorry Harry." Hermione handed him the letter with an embarrassed look on her face. Harry hastily opened it and pulled out the note, quickly unfolding it. With Hermione and Ron looking over his shoulders, they began to read.

_Hello Harry Potter,_

_First of all may I say congratulations for ridding us of Lord Voldemort. I'm sure you've heard it many times, but we're all very much so in your debt._

_Something the occurred to me recently is just that. Though only the wizards know it, you've in fact put the entire world in your debt. However, do you mind me asking how many have repaid you for what you've done? I don't intend to suggest that you're in anyway greedy, I imagine through this entire experience you've actually become very selfless._

_So in gratitude I shall give you something I'm fairly sure you'll be grateful to have. Inside the package is a pensieve. I wouldn't be surprised if you already know what this does, but incase you don't, it's basically for viewing memories. It's not a lavish pensieve I'm afraid, but it'll do. I've also given a memory. It is the first of many I will be supplying you with. They will come an undetermined intervals, so don't hold your breath for the next one, simply allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised when it does arrive. _

_As for my own identity, you will find out more about me in due time over the course of these memories._

_Sincerely,_

_Nathan_

_P.S. I heard that your owl died. It's always a shame when a companion who is always there with you is gone so abruptly. I realize that he will probably never replace the owl, but in addition to the pensieve and the memory., I'd like you to take the eagle who delivered it. His name is Grey, and he's a very well trained messenger. Don't worry, I have plenty of other birds who will be able to deliver the memories._

Harry turned to his right to see Hermione, obviously done reading the letter long ago, looking at the box with interest. To Harry's left was Ron, eyes still darting back and forth as he finished reading. Within seconds he was looking at Harry with an urging gaze. It was clear they both wanted him to open the pensieve immediately. All too happy to oblige, he opened it hastily, finding inside precisely what he expected.

A large bowl covered in runes was before him, Hermione peered in for a closer look at the runes, and upon a few minutes of examination claimed that she recognized none of them. The bowl itself was empty, which was a first for Harry, however he expected it would work the same.

After carefully uncorking the bottle which came in the package, Harry began to empty it into the metallic bowl. The cloudy liquid filled a small portion of the pensieve, and suddenly Harry, Ron and Hermione felt weightless as their journeyed into the memory...

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I imagine I'll get started on the first actual chapter rather soon. It probably won't be up until next weekend though, I have midterms this week and I really should be studying...

Oh, please review if you enjoyed it so far.


	2. Are You New?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of what you recognize.

I suppose the description and the characters sort of ruined any illusion cliff hanger as to what the memory was to be about, but no matter.

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It didn't take long for Harry, Ron and Hermione to recognize where they were. Windows to either side of them showed vast fields flying by with the trio all recognized, they were currently on the Hogwarts Express. A loud grunt from behind them made the three turn around.

A boy who looked around Harry's age leaned down to lift up his very large suitcase. He had unkempt brown hair (though it was not as messy as Harry's) and had matching brown eyes. He wore a very convincing muggle outfit which lead Harry to believe that he was muggle-born. Knowing he would not be seen, he took a few steps closer to further inspect this person. It was then that he saw in gold letters on his luggage; "Nathan Greere." Harry looked up as Nathan opened his mouth to speak.

"Come on Ashley, let's find our selves a compartment." Harry swerved his head to the side to see a girl who looked Nathan's age with the same shining brown stare, but long blond hair. They were probably brother and sister even so, their faces were quite similar. She nodded slowly and opened her mouth as if to speak, but anything she may have said was drown out by a loud shout.

"WHAAT!?"

Hermione jumped in fright while Ron's eyes went wide as dinner plates. Harry looked past Nathan and Ashley, who had also turned around to see what was going on. Many compartment doors opened just enough for curious students to poke out their heads.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" came the voice again, "YOU!? Head Boy!?" Suddenly, Harry realized exactly what he was witnessing. This was his mother reacting to his father becoming Head Boy in their 7th year. Although this was long ago and before they were ever together, it pained Harry to see his parents fighting.

Simultaneously, Nathan and Ashley turned around in search of a compartment, walking right through Harry. Though Harry wanted to stay to witness more of his parents interactions, he quickly realized that they would not be in this memory and would have to follow the pair who were now knocking on the door of a compartment. As Harry entered the compartment he was somewhat surprised to see a teenage Sirius, Remus and Peter.

"Hey there!" said a young Sirius Black with a friendly grin on his face. Nathan gave him a nod while Ashley smiled back at Sirius before sitting down.

"I don't believe I've seen you two before," began Remus, "are you perhaps new this year?"

"Yes we are," confirmed Nathan, "we're 7th years, but our family recently moved to Britain so we're attending Hogwarts."

"Well if you're going to attend Hogwarts, you've got to know what house you plan to join!" said Sirius, his wide grin still on his face.

"Nope," Ashley finally spoke up, her voice rather dreamy. In fact, Ron quickly made and vocalized the connection that she looked quite like Luna after hearing their similar voices. "We've heard the names, but besides that know next to nothing."

"Well then!" Sirius's voice now with an enthusiastic tone, "Allow me to be the first to recommend to you Gryffindor! Really the best house, we win the Quidditch Cup most years, the house cup basically every year, not to mention..."

But he trailed off suddenly, looking to the door of the compartment. Harry quickly turned around so see his father with a grimace on his face. Remus and Sirius put a ever-so slight smirk on their face, knowing exactly what had just happened. Peter however had clearly not caught on, sporting a very confused look.

"What happened Prongs?" Peter cocked his head to the side a bit. James gave him a cold stare which visibly sent shivers down Peter's spine.

"Isn't it obvious Wormtail?" Remus raised his eye brows, looking at Peter with look of disbelief. Peter's face became more nervous looking. Clearly he wasn't going to get it.

"Lily Evans happened. She rejected me AGAIN." James said sternly, sitting down between Sirius and Remus. "I just don't get what her problem is! I mean, she's just so-"

But James was cut off quickly by Ashley, who could tell he could drone on for hours about this girl. "Maybe you could try, you know, asking her why she keeps rejecting you."

"I tried that, something about being arrogant. Honestly, me, arrogant!? Ha!" At this, Nathan smirked and Remus let out a small chuckle. "Okay so maybe I'm a bit arrogant. Whatever." James now turned to the two unfamiliar people in his compartment. "So who are you two?"

"Nathan and Ashley Greere, 7th years, but it's our first year at Hogwarts." Nathan said, "I bet we'll be answering that question quite a lot."

"Three galleons says it'll be more then 10 times." Ashley grinned mischievously. Her arm stretched in order to seal the deal.

"Deal!" Nathan began to move his hand forward towards Ashley's, but quickly pulled away at the last moment, "On one condition, no trying to get people to ask it on purpose!"

Ashley gave a slightly frustrated look, but took his hand anyway and the two shook on it. Sirius whispered something in James' ear, who nodded slightly. It was then that the food trolley came rolling by and a witch looking in perhaps her 40's give them all a warm smile.

"Anything off the trolley, boys?" She waved her hand over the trolley, packed with all sorts of sweets; Cauldron Cakes; Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans; Chocolate Frogs; Pumpkin Pasties; Liquorices Wands and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum could be found in the abundance among other things.

"We're not boys, you know. We're all of age here." Sirius said, a star-struck look in his eyes as he gazes at the cart full of candy.

Realizing they could affording nothing of it, Nathan and Ashley let out a simultaneous deep sigh. James however smiled contently.

"What do you two want? Don't worry, it's on me, and I won't take no for an answer." he said, as he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a fist full of glimmer coins. Nathan and Ashley both looked up from their feet smiling, but Harry could sense a small pang of guilt in them as well.

Both Greeres had placed small orders, not wanting to cost James too much. James on the other hand surrounded himself with sweets. Occasionally offering a Cauldron Cake or Pumpkin Pasty to the still reluctant Nathan and Ashley. Sirius, on the other hand, was glad to take some of James' food. Remus ordered nothing, claiming to have a stomach ache. Peter ordered 8 Chocolate Frogs, opening them quickly and tossing aside the chocolate to have a look at the card.

"Dumbledore... darn, two Dumbledore's!" Ashley threw him a strange look. "Oh look! A Falco Aesalon! I don't have one of those!"

"He's obsessed with collecting them all." explained Remus, sharing Sirius and James' grins of amusement.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the compartment with Harry's parents and their old friends, watching them talk about school and family and whatever else they could think of. It made Harry happy to see his father having a good time.

At this point Sirius, being the ladies man he was, was telling Nathan, much to his amusement, all about which girls to date and which ones to avoid. To Hermione and Ron's amazement, he was able to recite all the girls in the entire school (excluding the first years). He had just finished talking about Laura Reins, a 6th year Ravenclaw who Sirius seemed to hold in somewhat high regard, when he paused for a moment, a somewhat mischievous look on his face. "And then, there's Miss Lily Evans."

James watched Sirius closely, his brow slightly slanted inward. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Miss Evans simply isn't worth your time Nathan. That's not to say she isn't kind or pretty, but if you even think about her in the wrong way, Prongs here will give you a Stinging Jinx that you won't soon forget!" James nodded slowly as Sirius finished.

"Fine then, I'll stay away from Evans."

Just then, the compartment door opened and a head leaned forward through Hermione, who was at that point standing in front of the entrance. It was quickly obvious that this was the head of Lily Evans.

"What's this about me?" Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but whatever he said was drown out by Ron.

"Jeeze Harry, you really do have her eyes..."

"Shush!" Hermione snapped at him. The three listened in on Lily once more.

"I know I heard my name... whatever. Potter, Remus," James looked slightly annoyed as Lily used Remus' first name but his surname. "you're late for the meeting in the prefects carriage," Lily turned her head towards the Greeres. "You two new this year?"

"That's three." Ashley voiced, then nodded at Lily's slightly confused face.

Suddenly everything started to become blurry. While Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed in focus, everything else blended together, it reminded Harry quite like what happened when he wasn't wearing his glasses.

"What's happening!?" shouted Ron, who to Harry's knowledge had never used a pensieve before.

"The memory must be ending!" Hermione shouted back, looking rather dizzy and stumbling around.

"No... no this isn't how they end. This is something completely different, but I'm not sure what." Harry thought aloud. Shortly after, things started to come back into focus. They were still in the exact same compartment and everyone was in the same position, but frozen. Then, out of nowhere came a booming voice.

"Follow James..."'

As soon as the voice had completely faded, the Marauders, the Greeres and Lily all became animate once more. James and Remus stood up, made their hasty good-byes and followed Lily out of the compartment. Harry and Hermione quickly followed after him, but because Ron hesitated for a moment, the compartment door was on him. He let out a yelp, but it was stifled when the door simply traveled through him. Still, he had a look of suspense stuck on his face the three followed the other three—Lily, Remus, and James.

"So what do you guys think happened back there?" said Ron. Harry was glad that the three ahead of them hadn't been talking, or else he would've had to shush Ron rudely.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Hermione started, "the person who owns this memory changed from Nathan to James."

"I didn't know that was possible..." Ron's surprise turned to confusion.

"Well neither did I honestly, but I suppose it makes sense. If Slughorn was able to alter his memory, why wouldn't two be able to be linked together?" She looked as if she wanted to keep talking, but noticed that James had began to speak, so listened intently instead.

"Honestly, these meetings should happen immediately after the train starts so we have less of a chance to forget. The way they are right now it's easy to lose track of time and completely miss them!"

"Well James," Remus turned to face him, "now that you're Head Boy, you can probably do something about that. I'm sure the teachers won't mind that rule being modified."

"Speaking of forgetting things." Lily turned to the other two, "you two are supposed to be wearing your robes." The two only then noticed that Lily was already wearing hers. "You'd better get changed quickly."

The disembodied voice came again. "I'll spare you the pleasure..."

Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes while Harry gave a noticeable shudder. The same blurriness over came them again, but afterwards they were standing the same place with Lily.

"Follow Lily..." the strange voice boomed. Lily turned and walked off towards the front of the train, not knowing that her son and his best friends were right behind her. The prefects carriage was crowded with 5th, 6th and 7th years. Lily smiled as they all looked up at her with faces that looked somewhat annoyed.

"Don't worry, I found them. They're changing into their robes now." Most nodded at her, some groaned and others simply rolled their eyes. Perhaps a minute later, Remus and James walked in. Remus was looking rather apologetic, but James had what Lily thought of as a dreadful arrogant grin as he stepped inside. A couple of 5th year girls let out a long, drawn out sigh towards him, which made Lily scowl.

"No need to be jealous Lily, you know I've only got eyes for you."

Harry was glad Lily's back was towards him, because certainly did not want to see the look on her face when James had said this. He did however see her fist clench and heard her thumb cracking because of it, which made most of the girls, and a few of the guys, cringe unpleasantly. Then Lily took a deep breath, and without turning towards the arrogant, annoying toerag standing behind her. said with as much calmness as she could muster. "I'm going to pretend that you never said that." Remus let out a well deserved sigh of relief.

"Anyway," Lily looked around at all the eyes staring up at her. It was unnerving to say the least. "the purpose this meeting is to simply make sure you're all familiar with your responsibilities as Hogwarts Prefects. You're all expected to take shifts patrolling the corridors at night, the specifics of when everyone's expected to do so we'll be told later. You're able to take away house points and give detentions, but doing so unfairly can be severely punished and you can be stripped of your rank. You all have access to the prefects bathroom. You'll be notified if the password ever changes, but right now it's 'Soft Sand.' Finally, you're expected to escort first years to their dormitories and make sure everyone in your house knows the password to your common room. That of course don't apply to the Ravenclaw prefects. Now," she took a very deep breath, having rushed through the entire speech without stopping. "any questions?"

Lily's legs were very clearly shaking, she was obviously not a very good public speaker. Upon noticing this, Ron laughed aloud. Hermione, thinking this would offend Harry, clenched down on Ron's should to make him stop, but Harry was by then laughing as well. Hermione let out a bit of a grunt in agitation. It was soon clear that none of the new prefects had questions besides Stebbins, a 7th year know-it-all from Ravenclaw, who asked where the prefects bathroom was to clarify for the new prefects. After being dismissed by Lily, they all filed out to go back to their compartments.

"Well, that was quick." Remus remarked. Harry started to follow him and James back to their compartment, but was pulled away by Hermione.

"We're following Lily, remember?"

Lily walked towards her compartment feeling absolutely flustered. Public speaking had never been her strong suit, but having to do so in front of a group of people she would need to lead for an entire year was simply embarrassing. She quickly walked to her compartment where her three best friends were talking. Katy, a fun loving black haired girl who was always trying to get Lily to cut loose, saw her first. This was quickly followed by Iris, a studious redhead who everyone mistook for Lily's sister since they were so alike. Finally, Adela, a spacey brunette with her gentle smile that she wore constantly, looked up at her. Lily sighed as she sat down. Katy finally broke the silence.

"So, how did the meeting go?" she asked innocently, which told Lily that there was definitely a follow-up question.

"Just fine." Lily said a bit quicker then she ought to have.

"And how was James." Katy smiled evilly. Lily should have known Katy would ask about him.

"He stayed out of my way, thank god." Lily sighed and sat down across from Adela, who was the next to speak up.

"Maybe he's matured over the summer." she suggested. After a few moments of silence, everyone burst out laughing. Lily, after hearing a knocking on the compartment door, was the first to stifle herself. After looking at the source of the noise, she saw a blonde haired girl. As Lily approached, she smiled slighty.

"Hey, weren't you with the Marauders when I went to fetch Potter and Remus?" Lily asked after opening the door."

"Yeah, but they were starting to get annoying." At this, Katy let out a giant grin.

"I can tell we're going to be great friends already." Katy said, causing everyone else to laugh. "Please, sit down." she patted her hand on the open space next to her.

"So, are you new?" Iris asked, getting a nod and something muttered under Ashley's which sounded like five in return.

"So that means you don't know what house you're in, right?" Katy said, Ashley gave yet another nod. "They're all fine, just don't end up in Slytherin!"

The rest of the train ride was spent reminiscing about years past and preparing for this year. Both Greeres were relatively silent among the long time friends, only occasionally adding to the conversation with short sentences or unbiased remarks. Harry and Ron were delighted to discover that Nathan had set up the memory so that they could change between the Marauders and Lily and CO's memory at any time. Hermione however seemed content to stay with the girls, although it didn't seem their conversation she was interested in. Her eyes were constantly pasted onto Ashley with a intrigued look.

"Like always," Ron had told Harry, "Hermione discovered something that passed right over us. I'm just wondering what."

As the train pulled up to the Hogshead station, the memory started to fade and before they realized what was happening, the three were once again in The Burrow.

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Wow, that took longer than I expected. Anyway, please review and such and blah blah blah.


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